Promise? What promise? The J&K Domicile Act has left all and sundry in a state of confusion. It is important to clarify the intent and implications of the domicile law. I am afraid this fig leaf notification is doing nothing but playing to the gallery. Thread follows. https://twitter.com/rammadhavbjp/status/1262566176355311616

After the Article 35A was made inoperative, the concept of "permanent resident" became redundant. But the First Order brought out by the government reintroduced the concept for recruitment of Level 4 govt employees.

As @jsaideepak pointed out in his excellent article, this was against the goals set out in the Parliament on Aug 5, 2019. That the state did not attract best talent for govt jobs was one of the ostensible reasons for removal of Article 370.

The first order met with a lot of resistance from Kashmiri Muslims who compulsively raised the bogey of atrocities etc. and pressurized the government to extend the reservations to all levels of employment. This led to the second order.

Thus, the second order effectively brought back the same terms and conditions for employment in the newly formed UT as existed before the Articles 35A & 370 were made inoperative.

The orders made no mention of those people who were not domiciles in the classic sense - Hindu refugees from Pakistan, other state workers with a long stay and displaced Kashmiri Hindus. The current notification addresses this concern. ONLY.

The problematic nature of the orders remains as it is and the notification does not address the real problems. Here are the two main issues:

1. It is unconstitutional and not at par with the service rules of other states. A state can require that sc/st/obc physically handicap etc posts are reserved for domiciles, but general category posts can be reserved only in part, not 100%.

2. It does not address the historical wrongs meted out to the people of Jammu by the Abdullahs, Syeds etc leading to a silent exodus of young people from Jammu. As @AnkurSharma_Adv has pointed out, the new domicile law only perpetuates the hegemony of Muslims in govt jobs.

Instead of wasting everyone's time by sending confusing signals wrapped in legalese, why doesn't the government clarify once and for all, how they intend to save Jammu from the demographic invasion that has been going on for decades. [End of thread]